Housing

The influence of facility and home pen design on the welfare of the laboratory-housed dog

We have an ethical and scientific obligation to Refine all aspects of the life of the laboratory-housed dog. Across industry there are many differences amongst facilities, home pen design and husbandry, as well as differences in features of the dogs...

Year Published: 2017Topics: Housing, Husbandry & ManagementAnimal Type: Dog

Citation: Scullion Hall, L. E. M., Robinson, S., Finch, J. et al. 2017. The influence of facility and home pen design on the welfare of the laboratory-housed dog. Journal of Pharmacological and Toxicological Methods 83, 21-29.

Social-housing and use of double-decker cages in rat telemetry studies

Rat telemetry is widely used for biomedical research purposes and is used routinely in early pre-clinical drug development to screen for the potential cardiovascular risk of candidate drugs. Historically, these studies have been conducted in individually housed conditions which can...

Year Published: 2019Topics: Biological Sampling & Physiological Measurement, External Bodily Equipment, Housing, Social Housing & CompanionshipAnimal Type: Rat, Rodent

Citation: Skinner, M., Ceuppens, P., White, P. et al. 2019. Social-housing and use of double-decker cages in rat telemetry studies. Journal of Pharmacological and Toxicological Methods 96, 87-94.

A good life for laboratory rodents?

Most would agree that animals in research should be spared “unnecessary” harm, pain, or distress, and there is also growing interest in providing animals with some form of environmental enrichment. But is this the standard of care that we should...

Year Published: 2019Topics: Environmental Enrichment, Handling, Housing, Husbandry & Management, Natural Behavior, RestraintAnimal Type: Mouse, Rat, Rodent

Citation: Makowska, I. J., Weary, D. M. 2019. A good life for laboratory rodents? ILAR Journal 60(3), 373-388.

Do you think I am living well? A four-season hair cortisol analysis on leisure horses in different housing and management conditions

The satisfaction of leisure horses' behavioral needs has begun to be considered a priority, linked to the awareness that horses kept in single boxes may be deprived of social contact and the possibility to perform natural behaviors. Several factors may...

Year Published: 2021Topics: Housing, Husbandry & ManagementAnimal Type: Equine

Citation: Mazzola, S. M., Colombani, C., Pizzamiglio, G. et al. 2021. Do you think I am living well? A four-season hair cortisol analysis on leisure horses in different housing and management conditions. Animals 11(7), 2141.

Recommendations for ensuring good welfare of horses used for industrial blood, serum, or urine production

Various pharmaceutical products have been derived from horse blood and urine for over a century. Production of biologics and therapeutics from these samples is a niche industry and often occurs in regions with little regulation or veterinary oversight. To ensure...

Year Published: 2021Topics: Housing, Husbandry & ManagementAnimal Type: Equine

Citation: Manteca Vilanova, X., Beaver, B., Uldahl, M. et al. 2021. Recommendations for ensuring good welfare of horses used for industrial blood, serum, or urine production. Animals 11(5), 1466.

Getting it straight: Accommodating rectilinear behavior in captive snakes—A review of recommendations and their evidence base

Snakes are sentient animals and should be subject to the accepted general welfare principles of other species. However, they are also the only vertebrates commonly housed in conditions that prevent them from adopting rectilinear behavior (ability to fully stretch out)....

Year Published: 2021Topics: HousingAnimal Type: Reptile, Snake

Citation: Warwick, C., Grant, R., Steedman, C. et al. 2021. Getting it straight: Accommodating rectilinear behavior in captive snakes—A review of recommendations and their evidence base. Animals 11(5), 1459.

Positive human contact and housing systems impact the responses of piglets to various stressors

This experiment studied the effects of lactation housing systems and human interaction on piglets' responses to routine stressors. Forty litters of piglets were reared in either a standard farrowing crate (FC) or a loose farrowing and lactation pen (LP; PigSAFE...

Year Published: 2021Topics: Housing, Human-Animal InteractionAnimal Type: Pig

Citation: Hayes, M. E., Hemsworth, L. M., Morrison, R. S. et al. 2021. Positive human contact and housing systems impact the responses of piglets to various stressors. Animals 11(6), 1619.

Husbandry and healthcare of the Olive python (Liasis olivaceus)

The article describes the care of the Olive python (Liasis olivaceus) including information on housing, feeding, handling, as well as the general health care of these animals. Some of the information presented is derived from Standard Operating Procedures which have...

Year Published: 2021Topics: Handling, Housing, Husbandry & Management, Natural Behavior, Relocation & TransportAnimal Type: Reptile, Snake

Citation: Martinic, G. 2021. Husbandry and healthcare of the Olive python (Liasis olivaceus). Animal Technology and Welfare 20(1), 44-50.

Report of the 2020 RSPCA/UFAW rodent and rabbit welfare meeting

The RSPCA/UFAW rodent and rabbit welfare group has held a one-day meeting every autumn for the last 27 years, so that its members can discuss current welfare research, exchange views on welfare issues and share experiences of the implementation of...

Year Published: 2021Topics: Drug/Substance Administration, Environmental Enrichment, Handling, Housing, Welfare AssessmentAnimal Type: Mouse, Rat, Rodent

Citation: Stevens, C., Hawkins, P., Smulders, T. V. et al. 2021. Report of the 2020 RSPCA/UFAW rodent and rabbit welfare meeting. Animal Technology and Welfare 20(1), 21-33.

Housing, husbandry and welfare of a “classic” fish model, the paradise fish (Macropodus opercularis)

Thanks to its small size, external fertilization and fecundity, over the past four decades, zebrafish (Danio rerio) has become the dominant fish model species in biological and biomedical research. Multiple lines of evidence, however, suggest that the reliance on only...

Year Published: 2021Topics: Housing, Husbandry & ManagementAnimal Type: Fish, Other Fish

Citation: Rácz, A., Adorján, G., Fodor, E. et al. 2021. Housing, husbandry and welfare of a “classic” fish model, the paradise fish (Macropodus opercularis). Animals 11(3), 786.